I like to ask others about tools that they use to deal with compulsive overeating or the intuitive eating process. These are some tools I use to stick to the “easy” solution. I want to be clear, these are some things that work for me. I am inspired by others and a few of these are adopted from other suggestions but these are unique to me. Your tools will be unique to you! If you like mine and think it might work for you… or some version of it that fits you better then I’m glad I shared them.

1. Motivational quotes. I post, read, recite, share, and seek them. Here are a few of my favorites:

“You must do the things you think you cannot do.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -Marianne Williamson

“The difference between who you are and who you want to be, is what you do.” -Bill Phillips

2. Journaling. I have maintained personal journals for years but taking time to reflect in a journal on my compulsive overeating helps me understand my own behavior and take action to change it.

3. Develop new practices for dealing with compulsion.

• I take the food I am ogling home in a box and save it for when I’m hungry.
• I distract myself with a task such as going to get the mail, or starting a load of laundry.
• I fake eat. Most people I’ve told about this one think it’s pretty weird but I’m a little weird so I’m okay with them thinking that. I actually fill up a bowl with imaginary food and pretend to eat it. Oddly, this has been incredibly satisfying. I only do it when I’m alone at home for fear of the public’s judgment but it has helped me out of the vortex of compulsion on more than one occasion. I say find the weird things that help you!
• I remind myself I can have it when I’m hungry in a few hours. I even imagine what it will be like to eat it and then I eat it if I want it. It’s almost like I’m talking to my “little girl” self. (Mary O’Mally talks about this conversation in her book “The Gift of Our Compulsions”)
• Remind myself that little things add up to big things and that the immediate gratification isn’t worth the tale-spin that will follow.
• I drink a big glass of water and see if I am just thirsty. This is a common experience for me.
• I yell at the top of my lungs. This one is also usually done in private and is quite helpful.
• I cry in private. This almost always makes me feel better.
• I get curious. I take several deep breaths and just feel what it’s like if I just let myself be intensely uncomfortable and not soothe it with food. It usually only lasts about five to ten minutes. Sometimes it’s longer but it always subsides eventually. This one has proven to be one of my best tools because it usually reveals what is triggering my compulsion. If I can just give it room to exist in me; show it that I can deal with it without overeating, then the truth behind it is revealed. Sometimes the trigger remains a hidden, but I suppose that just means that sometimes I’m a mystery. Ces’t la vie!

4. I also use Weight Watchers. I have a love-hate relationship with this program. It does seem to be a “healthy” plan but it is created for the masses and I believe that weight loss is specific to the individual. I also believe that if I could just stick to eating when I’m hungry and eating until I’m satisfied I’d be golden! It does talk about behaviors, but not compulsion in any way. It’s difficult to get into the emotional/psychological part of weight loss because it’s individual. I am not a proud or public weight watcher. I don’t tell people I’m on it except my loved ones. I’m publishing it here because I think there are others who feel the same way. I find it embarrassing in many ways, to feel like I need someone else to monitor my eating habits and my weight. Hence my joining, leaving, and rejoining over and over. I convince myself to like the tracking, when I do it. It does help me stay in awareness most of the time, but I also never want to do it. It does remind me of my goals, and it does help me to hear other people’s stories at the meetings or read them online. For me, it helps more than it hurts at this point in my process, so I use it.

5. I read and re-read inspiring books such as:

The Gift of our Compulsions by Mary O’Mally

Overcoming Overeating by Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter

The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield (this is a great book for accomplishing anything that doesn’t give you immediate gratification)

The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

Wake Up, I’m Fat! by Camryn Manheim (a personal fave)

Make the Connection by Oprah Winfrey and Bob Greene

When You Eat at the Refrigerator Pull up a Chair and Breaking Free from Compulsive Eating by Geneen Roth (her other ones are good too but these are my personal favorites)

I’m about to purchase Thin Side Out by Josie Spinardi which looks quite promising! I’ll let you know. (see my posted review!)

6. I talk to my family and friends about it, and give and receive support.

7. I read a list of personalized affirmations aloud. I highly suggest this. This is a great tool to build beliefs. It’s the “fake it till you make it” technique. It backs up another of my favorite quotes which is:

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit.  Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” ~Laozi (possibly, but there seem to be many sources for this quote, and many versions of it too!)